


there at dusk i found you

by idlewheel



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Teacher!Amy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 03:29:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12356502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idlewheel/pseuds/idlewheel
Summary: Jake’s not entirely sure that Nikolaj forgot to tell Boyle that he had a teacher’s night at his school on purpose because he’s a bright kid.or,   Jake's kind of into Nikolaj's teacher.





	there at dusk i found you

Jake’s not entirely sure that Nikolaj forgot to tell Boyle that he had a teacher’s night at his school on purpose because he’s a bright kid. He _knows_ that Boyle worked late on Thursdays and Jake had off. He _knows_ that Genevieve’s in Boston for the week and can’t take him to parents night. Also, he’s really good at remembering things, maybe even to the extent that Jake should probably think twice before he says stuff in front of him.

So, Jake doesn’t understand why he decides to tell Jake and Boyle that his parent’s night is on Thursday night on…Thursday morning.

Jake offers to take him after Nikolaj turns those big, moony eyes on him.

Right now, as they drive, his big eyes grin behind his glasses. And okay, Jake is suspicious because the chattering between giggles that he and Boyle shared while looking at him is not exactly a good sign. And, okay, Jake really hasn’t dated in a while and Boyle is seemingly intent on fixing that.

He’s not immune or allergic to love, if anything, love’s allergic to _him_. Jake loves entirely, with all four chambers of his heart, but most of the time it’s never relayed back. For example: Jenny Gildenhorn, Sofia, Sandra Bullock (okay, he wrote one fan letter but his love was still not returned).

Jake gives it all, jumping straight out of the plane with no parachute on. But, Jenny left him for his ex-best friend. (Damn you, Eddy Fung!) Sofia told she didn’t love him after he practically bled his heart out for her. But, still, he didn’t give up.

Just decided to take a small month long break…that stretched out into two years.

Boyle was not amused, not wanting Jake to spend the rest of his life alone. _I will not let my best friend die alone! No, he will not die surrounded by thirty cats that will eat his bloated corpse after he dies._

Gah, Jake can hear him now. Boyle never gave up, trying to set him up with all 20 of his girl cousins and 5 of his boy cousins. They were...nice, if not a little overbearing and too much like Boyle that Jake never relaxed into the relationship. It was trippy, like dating Boyle himself.

After a horrible night with Lillian, a cousin who had the signature Boyle laugh, Jake told him to cool it. He’d find his own way back to the cruel tree of love, all on his own and without Boyle’s help.

Boyle had sighed but a dangerous gleam remained in his eyes.

And that’s where Nikolaj comes in. At least, Jake thinks.

“What are you up to, little man?”

He giggles, covering his mouth.

“Nothing. I’m just excited for you to meet my teacher.”

“Nikolaj-“

“ _Nikolaj_.” he corrects automatically.

Jake groans, turning into the school. “Just thought I’d let you know that if you’re up to something, there will be no more secret Chuck E Cheese dinners.”

His eyes widen, lower lip pouting, and Jake sighs, who is he kidding? That little boy has him wrapped around his finger. He parks his car and turns over his seat to look at Nikolaj.

“Fine.” He narrows his eyes, tries to look serious. “But I know you’re hiding something, little dude.”

Nikolaj shakes his head, small smile on his lips and undoes his seatbelt, jumping off the car.

“Nope. Nothing at all.”

He holds Nikolaj’s hand as they walk into the school. Jake breathes in deeply, remembering days where there was nothing more important than a 63 pack of colors.

Those were the good old days.

“Okay, we need some ground rules because knowing your dad he’s probably trying to set me up with some single mom or, I don’t know, a teacher? And like Die Hard 4, it’s better to just ride it out and just let it happen without complaints. No taking pictures to show your dad later. No embarrassing stories.”

“Like telling people about the time when you saw that pretty girl and you were so drunk you fell off your stool-“

“That…never happened.” he interrupts because there’s no way in _hell_ that Boyle told his kid about drunk Jake falling off a stool at Shaw’s. But, truth be told, Boyle, king of oversharing, probably did. God, it was probably his bedtime story.

And, _God_ , Jake did **not** fall off a stool. More like, the stool fell from under him. And, okay, his now-sober memory does not remember anything about that girl except, her eyes and okay, maybe her laugh.

Everything from that night is just a blurry night that transformed into a hung-over morning.

They arrive at the first classroom. Math.

“Here we go…”

-

Everything was going fine. Jake shook hands with all his teachers, he ooh and awed over the god-awful drawings and listened intently as teachers described teaching methods he knew nothing about. He even ate the stale cookies but then, Nikolaj dragged him to his band teacher’s class.

Jake didn’t even know he was taking band. But, then he remembers the god awful wailing of the recorder every time he was at Boyle, a sound he always blocked out.

Seriously, he always thought the neighbors were having awful sex or that the neighbors were sacrificing their cat.

Nikolaj tugs on his hand and Jake lets him go and instead focuses on the drum kit in the corner of the room. He’d always wanted to take drum classes but instead, his mother put him in tap. Yeah, he totally didn’t get bullied for that.

 _Damn you, tap dancing and the way you made me light on my feet_ , he thinks.

“-and my dad couldn’t come because he works late but this is my Uncle Jake.” Nikolaj is half-dragging this teacher. Jake gets ready for another round of fake smiling and replaying all of Die Hard in his eyes as he listen to them drone on and on about _how good of student Nikolaj is_. Gah.

But, it isn’t that. It’s the girl from the bar, with the eyes and the smile and the worried look on her face, same look she had when he fell off the stool. He drops the drum sticks and doesn’t move to pick them up.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Yes. Just dandy.” his voice is too squeaky, like he’s been sucking on helium.

Nikolaj, on the other hand is looking between them with the brightest eyes. Honestly, they’d give the sun a run for its money. “Do you know my teacher, Uncle Jake?”

“Mm, No.” Jake answers quickly. _Boyle, you are so dead! I am seriously going to murder you_. _I’d go to jail again, this time for real. I don’t care_.

She’s still watching him with thinly veiled regard, eyes narrowed.

“Wait, I _do_ know you.” she says. “You’re a cop, aren’t you? I think I saw you at-“ she pauses and looks at Nikolaj, PG-ing their conversation. “..that restaurant. The one celebrating the take down of Red Masked Robbers. You were the one who took them down, weren’t you?”

“Yup, that’s me.” he tries to appear, relaxed and like his body isn’t pulled tight and taut like violin strings. “It was no biggie.” It was a pretty big deal, actually. Took about a year and a half of his life, he even went undercover in a jail for three weeks and all. But, no biggie, no biggie.

“Yeah, my boyfriend-“ the rest of her words warble out, sounding like a seriously depressing song. She has a boyfriend, of course. “-…works at the 67 and he told me all about it.” She smiles and everything inside of him just _melts_ like candy on a sidewalk. “It’s pretty impressive.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a pretty impressive man.” he says without thinking, then cringing at how it sounds. God, can he sound more like a dick?

“You are.” Is is just him or did her eyes shine just then? The air leaves his lungs then all he can do is stare at that smile and those eyes. One of the parents calls her from the other side of the room and she motions she’ll be right over.

“Well, it was great to meet you Mr.-?”

Jake doesn’t even notice her hand stretched out and grabs it a little too harshly. It’s soft and warm in his.

“Peralta. Jake. Jake Peralta.”

“Amy Santiago.” She grins so wide her teeth show. “Don’t fall off anymore stools, please.” she smiles and then she’s gone, left to the other side of the room.

“She’s nice, isn’t she?” Jake almost jumps at the sound of Nikolaj’s voice. His little eyes glimmer.

Seriously, Jake had forgotten Nikolaj was standing there. Was he there during his entire blunder?

God, he’s going to tell Boyle.

“She’s…your teacher.” is all he can say dumbly.

-

Jake throws his jacket on the chair when he gets home. He’s cursing himself, the whole continent and most importantly Boyle.

His soon-to-be dead best friend answers in one ring.

“So, Jake-“

“I’m cutting you off.” he sits on his sofa, rubbing his face raw in embarrassment. “We’re not talking for three whole weeks.”

He hangs up before Boyle can say a word more, then he ignores his calls and takes a searing hot shower until his skin turns so red it hurts.

The cut off lasts three whole days, a new record, and then somehow, Jake doesn’t know how ,but he goes to Nikolaj’s school play. He tells a nosy Boyle that, no, he doesn’t need to be set up with another cousin and no, he’s not going to ask Amy out, who has a _boyfriend_.

Somehow, God knows how, he actually doesn’t set himself on fire the next time he sees Amy. She’s talking with some of the other teachers and the heart inside his chest beats quicker like a hummingbird. Jake sits in the very back and pretends he doesn’t see her making her way to him.

“Hey, if it isn’t the one who falls off of stools.”

Jake cringes, finally looking up at her. She’s grinning, eyes shining with a teasing look; all former misgivings, including his awkward conversation, forgotten. “That’s me.”

“What are you doing here?” she asks.

“Nothing better to do on a Wednesday night.” he says, which is the sad, sad truth. “And, you? I can’t imagine plays are part of your curriculum.” He wants to know so much more about her. Like, what’s her favorite color? Her opinion on religion, her favorite side of the bed, her least favorite day. Everything, every single part.

“I promised Nikolaj that I’d see his play.” Jake tries to ignore the closeness of her body as she sits on the seat next to him.

“He has a way of burrowing into your heart, huh?”

Amy nods. “They all do, but him especially.”

“Yeah, he’s a little treasure.”

“Is Mr. Boyle here?”

“Yup. Backstage. Probably annoying the director and taking a million and one pictures of Nikolaj. I’m just here to hold his tissues.”

She laughs that wind-chime laugh. “So, a cop, citywide hero and a tissue holder? Anything else I should know?”

“Um, I cook a mean lasagna?”

His heart stutters in his chest. She’s smiling, eyes like a warming sun and Jake really, really hates Boyle at this moment for reintroducing him to this angel.

“I always wanted to be a cop.” She says with a slight smile on her face.

“Why didn’t you?” he asks.

“Life.” She sighs. “Just…difficult, you know, to change everything so late in the game.”

“Not really.”

“I don’t know.” She pauses, thinks for a second. “Sometimes I think that life is already set, you know? It’s like baking a cake: you can’t stop when it’s almost done and try to change a chocolate cake to a strawberry one.”

Jake listens carefully. “Maybe you can.” He shrugs and her eyes look as serious as they’ve ever been. No mirth of humor lies behind them. “It’s really never too late.”

A moment of silence sits between them, like a huge personified comma. Jake opens his mouth to speak again, but Amy jumps up at the figure of a man standing right next to her.

 _Oh_ , Jake recognizes him slightly from that night at the bar.

“Oh, Jake, this is my boyfriend, Teddy.” Teddy’s hand cups her hip and Amy relaxes onto him, obviously used to him. Jake burns with slight jealousy. “He’s Nikolaj’s uncle. He’s also the one who caught the Red Masked Robbers.”

“Oh, Wow.” He holds out his hand. “Always fun to meet a fellow cop.” Jake shakes Teddy’s hand, loses all ability to speak and just nods, words somewhere inside him. If he did have anything to say, he’d probably tell Teddy to go away so he and Amy can continue their important conversation.

Instead, he doesn’t speak and stays awkwardly mute.

Amy and Teddy awkwardly look at one another.

“Well…play’s about to start. We should go.” she says after a minute. “See you around, Jake.”

Jake nods again and prays the Earth swallows him whole.

They leave, heads close together and Jake tries to pay attention to the play but Boyle’s blubbering and Amy and Teddy in the front row make it difficult.

-

“Ms. Santiago asked about you.” Nikolaj tells him three weeks later. Jake sputters for a second, letting Nikolaj destroy him in Mario Cart.

“What’d she say?” his voice doesn’t sound natural at all, it sounds like he’s a really bad actor and he’s trying to fake nonchalance.

“She said you’re horrible at Mario Cart.” Nikolaj says, with a grin on his face.

“I’m letting you win.” he says, trying to put his heart into it again but there’s a problem with his hands or maybe all of him. She does that. God, how is she so deep into every crevice of his being? Is she a witch?

Nikolaj doesn’t give him any more dirt on her and he knocks his shoulder into his.

“Seriously, what’d she say?”

“She said that she’s in love with you.”

“What?” Nikolaj grins as he speeds around him again, distracted. He knocks his shoulder into his again. “What’d she say, bud?”

“She said that she hadn’t seen you at the Spring Festival.”

“Oh.” he says. “Did you tell her I was saving bad guys and that’s why I couldn’t go?”

Nikolaj narrows his eyes, looking over at him.

“Do you like Ms. Santiago?” there’s a lilt in his voice that makes him sound exactly like Boyle.

“No.” he snorts unconvincingly. Jake sighs at the look on Nikolaj’s face, wondering when he started sharing his personal life with an elementary school kid. “She has a boyfriend.”

“She broke up with her boyfriend.”

“What? How do you know that?” he asks, taking a sip of his water, pausing the game. He wants to listen to every little bit of this information without letting Nikolaj win him at Mario Kart. (He still has his reputation to uphold, after all.) This might be vital information. No, this _is_ vital information. “Seriously, should I be worried with how much these teachers are sharing with you?”

Nikolaj rolls his eyes. “I heard her telling Ms. Diaz about it.”

“Oh..” He zones off, the words repeating in his ears.

“Can we start the game again?” Nikolaj asks impatiently as Jake stares into the nothing. 

“..Yeah.” he says and stops before he can un-pause it. “Wait, how did she sound when she told Ms. Diaz? Like sad-sad or like sad-happy? Point is, was she sad about it?”

Nikolaj scrunches his face again, thinking hard. “Not sad. She told Ms. Diaz that she’d finally done it.” He turns his big eyes to him again. “That’s how she said it. _Finally_.” he draws out the word. “And then Ms. Diaz told her that she needed to get really drunk and-“

“Okay, that’s enough." Jake interrupts quickly. "I think you should stop listening in on your teacher’s conversations, Nikolaj.”

“ _Nikolaj_.” he corrects automatically.

Jake groans and un-pauses the game. Nikolaj absolutely obliterates him and Jake can’t find it within him to care because the words _she broke up with her boyfriend_ are ringing in his ears.

-

This is silly. He feels like he’s fourteen again. Seriously, who changes so many times and _god,_ he’s wearing two damn colognes. It’s not like it’s Valentine’s Day or even Groundhog’s Day. It’s a freaking Easter Egg Hunt.

After Boyle and Genevieve go to her cousin’s wedding in Seattle, Jake’s put on babysitting duties, again. 

His leg bounces up and down as he pulls into the school. He’s probably more amped up than the kids. Not that he's a big fan of Easter or egg hunts but, he is a big fan of seeing Amy again.

But, seriously, he’s going to do it. He’s going to ask her out and he’s so close to throwing up from nervousness. Jake goes into the restroom and gives himself a silent pep talk in the mirror. He’s going to do it.

Single-Amy is all he’s been thinking about for the past three weeks. He still hasn’t told Boyle, knowing that if it goes wrong, Boyle is going to want to talk about it and _yuck_.

Okay, fine, he can’t lie, he likes talking about his feelings. Who doesn’t? But, he doesn’t want to jinx it. He wants it to go wrong on it’s own, not because he screwed with the cosmos but because he’s unlucky.

She’s talking with some parents on the other side of the pasture when he arrives. The school patio is decorated with pastel decorations; it looks like the Easter bunny puked everywhere. Everyone is wearing bright colors; Jake feels he’s in suburban Boston instead of a Brooklyn elementary school.

Nikolaj is talking to his friends to his left, his voice animated, not even noticing Jake and the heart at the base of his throat. Yeah, he’s regretting this. He’s definitely going to screw this up and scar poor Nikolaj.

Why did he volunteer for this? Gina could’ve done it. He’s chickening out. He’s not going to do it.

Wait, maybe he is. He watches as she brushes a piece of hair behind her ear, the wind blowing like her own personalized fan. 

Nope, he’s not going to do it.

But, she sees Nikolaj and she makes her way to his waving hand. And Jake.

“Stop that.” He mutters and Nikolaj furrows his eyebrows. God, he’s really going to throw up. Oh, God. Oh, God.

“Nikolaj, I like the bunny ears.” She says in greeting.

“Thank you, Ms. Santiago.” He smiles.

Amy glances over at him and Jake has to swallow his nausea and his heart that sits at his throat.

“Jake.” There’s something behind her eyes and Jake struggles to decipher it. But she blinks and it’s gone.

“Amy.”

The silence drags on, both unsure of what to say. Luckily Nikolaj saves him before he throws up on her pretty black boots, by...leaving. It's even more awkward, like they both have things to say but can't say them.

“Walk?" she offers after a moment and he nods.

“I can’t believe you came to the Easter-Egg Hunt. Most parents don’t come, much less uncles.” She says as they walk. “It’s kind of sad, honestly. Easter used to be my favorite holiday when I was younger.”

Jake takes a deep breath. _Here he goes_. _FuckItFuckItFuckIt._

__

“Actually, I didn’t come for Nikolaj.” She turns her confused eyes on him but that fleck is in there again and Jake braces himself, concentrates on her. “I came to ask you out.”

__

“Oh.” she blinks once, quiet. They stop walking, now at the edge of the school yard, closer to the traffic. A car buzzes by them, music on loud.

__

“Yeah, I know, not on Valentine’s Day or on New Years but on the most romantic holiday. Easter.” he continues. Amy laughs, tucking her hair behind her ears but drops her eyes to the grass. Uh-oh.

__

“Jake... I just left Teddy and…I’m not ready for a relationship.” she says slowly and sighs. “And there’s a dumb rule about teachers not fraternizing with family members of students. I know you and Nikolaj aren’t biologically related but you’re technically his uncle. I just don’t think it’s the right time, right now.”

__

He wants to be selfish and tell Boyle to take Nikolaj out of band so he can date his teacher but he sighs, nods. She’s right, it’s not the right time and it wouldn’t be fair to Nikolaj. And also, she _did_ say _dumb rule_ which means she’s against it.

Also, means he has a chance.

“I understand.” he nods. “But, I hope you understand that one minute after school ends I’ll be outside your classroom.”

__

She smiles and everything inside of him shines. “I’ll hold you to that.”

__

-

__

Boyle tries to set him up with his widowed aunt during his wait and Jake cuts him off for five days. New record.

__

-

__

 

__

The last day of school, Jake’s waiting outside her room. She smiles as she sees the apple in his hand. Her fingers brush against his as she grabs it.

__

“School year’s over.”

__

“Mhm. You’re ten minutes late.”

__

“Yeah, I got lost.” he says, one of his hand cupping her waist. He squeezes and she blushes, the tippy top of her ears turning red. “Is this an elementary school or a maze?”

__

“A maze. That’s how we keep the kids sharp, by forcing them to find their ways to class daily.” she teases.

__

“God, I do not miss elementary school at all.”

__

She smiles, the hand not holding the apple settling on his upper arm.

__

“So, are you going to ask me out are did you just bring me an apple?”

__

“Just the apple.” he says sarcastically. “I’m here to use it against you, thought it’d keep you away.” He motions to the closeness between them. “Obviously it is not working.“

__

“That’s doctors.” she says and repeats the saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

__

“Ah.” he says and before he can think of anything else to say, she’s kissing him.

__

He’s floating. And he’s found a new hobby: kissing her. No, scratch that, this is his new profession. Goodbye cop work, hello kissing Amy. He doesn’t need a job that pays any money, he doesn’t need anything else but the feel of her lips against his.

__

He presses his head against hers when they separate. And, wow, he needs a moment or maybe a year, to recuperate.

__

“All that French horn playing.” she’s breathless, lipstick smeared on the corners of her mouth.

__

Jake nods, breathless, too.

Then, she’s kissing him again. She nearly groans when he pulls away, mouth chasing his.

__

“Oh,” he says. “I forgot to ask, are you busy Saturday?”

__

“Yes. I’m pretty sure I have a date.”

__

“Is he a nice guy?” he can’t stop smiling, he’s so damn happy.

__

“Yeah, I think so but he doesn’t stop talking so I can kiss him.” she says and Jake grins, connects his mouth against hers again.

__

-

__

The date on Saturday goes well and so does their breakfast in bed on Sunday. She makes eggs so runny that Jake can taste the salmonella. He eats two and gets horrible food poising. He has to stay in bed for all of Sunday and Monday. Amy visits him Monday night and falls asleep with their hands clasped between them, their bodies drawn close together. His hand starts to cramp and he knows that he can let go because god, that’s really not comfortable and it’s going to hurt really bad in the morning. Also, he returns to work tomorrow and he won’t be able to write without wincing. Then, Boyle is going to ask why his hand hurts so much but he’ll raise his eyebrows in a really uncomfortable manner. Jake will have to spill the beans and Boyle will probably take him to a disgusting restaurant as a celebration.

__

He really doesn’t want to go through all of that, but her hand is really soft and warm, her breath is tickling his neck and he’s already in too deep. But, he wants to go deeper, so deep that their bodies intertwine and he loses semblance of himself.

__

He thinks he’s close to that and he can deal with Boyle and strange looks. He can deal with it all.

__

So, he doesn’t let go.

__

 

__

**Author's Note:**

> hello, long time no see.


End file.
